NHS England supports national Nutrition and Hydration Week

18 Mar 2015 10:45 AM

NHS England is this week supporting a national campaign to raise awareness of the importance of good nutrition and hydration care.

Nutrition and Hydration Week is a campaign of joint action by Hospital Caterers Association, National Association of Care Catering and NHS England to improve awareness of good nutrition and hydration for patients in health and social care.

There is evidence that poor nutrition and hydration can harm patients’ health and wellbeing, reduce their ability to recover and even lead to death. Poor and inconsistent practice in nutrition and hydration care can also lead to serious and avoidable harm.

Throughout the week, NHS organisations and other providers of health and social care will be hosting a variety of local activities including tastings, information displays, cookery sessions, bake-offs and training sessions. National activity includes:

• A World Tea Party that will encourage social and health care providers to serve afternoon tea as a way of raising awareness of importance of nutrition and hydration;
• The release of six new nutrition and hydration videos on the 6Cs Live! YouTube channel. Links to the videos are being tweeted out each day this week from @NHSEnglandPX.

To get involved, visit The Nutrition and Hydration Week website.

Dr Mike Durkin, NHS England’s Director of Patient Safety, said: “It is fantastic to see Nutrition and Hydration Week continuing to grow each year with more and more organisations taking part across all care settings. The enthusiasm of those involved shows this is an issue of great importance for health care teams as they strive to provide the best possible care.

“The week is all about raising awareness around the vital need for good nutrition and hydration and recognising we all have a role to play in improving the health and well-being of those in our care.”